The mother who sparked protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Phoenix
after federal authorities detained her has been deported to Nogales,
Mexico.

Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos has been attending regular meetings to
check in with ICE officers in order to stay in the country with her
family, but on Wednesday when she showed up for an appointment she was
detained and later deported.

“This is our country because we have spent most of our lives here,”
Aarón Rayos said at a press conference after finding out his wife was
sent to Mexico.

President Donald Trump’s recent executive order prioritizes removal of unauthorized
immigrants who have been convicted or charged of a criminal offense.

In
2008 Garcia was arrested in a workplace raid at a water park and
convicted for criminal impersonation for using a fake Social Security
number. She spent three months in the Maricopa County Jail and three
months in the Florence Detention Center. She was issued an Order of
Supervision (OSUP) and released.

For eight years she checked in with immigration officers and was
allowed to return to her family in Mesa.

According to a statement issued
by ICE, García De Rayos was detained this time based on a removal order
issued by the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration
Review in 2013.

“Relevant databases indicates Ms. Garcia De Rayos has a
prior felony conviction dating from March 2009 for criminal
impersonation,” said the statement.

Demonstrators joined her family outside the ICE building in a show of
solidarity.

“You’re not alone Lupita,” they chanted as they walked
alongside her as she entered the facility Wednesday. She hugged her
husband and two kids before heading inside for meeting with immigration
authorities. As news of her detention spread, dozens of protesters
gathered to demand her release. And later protesters tried to stop the
van transporting García De Rayos and others from leaving the parking
lot.

Her husband and two children, a daughter 14, and son 15, caught a
glimpse of Rayos de García through the vehicle’s tinted window and tried
to talk to her.

“It’s going to be OK, have faith,” said Aarón Rayos
in attempt to comfort his wife.

“Seeing her in the van made me really sad,” said her daughter
Jacqueline Rayos. “Nobody should have to pack their mother’s bag to be
deported.”

Manuel Saldaña, a U.S. military veteran, put his arms around one of
the vehicle’s front tires, chanting with protesters, “No one is
illegal!”

“There are too many people who are at risk right now,” said María
Castro, who sat down in the street behind the van. “We need to all come
out as a community before they come out after all of us.”

The Phoenix Police Department cleared the road and arrested seven protesters, including Saldaña and Castro.

Francisca Porchas, director of Puente Human Rights Movement,
urged people to call Phoenix ICE Director Albert Carter and U.S. Sen. John
McCain to intervene and stop the deportation.

“Today is about Guadalupe
but it’s also about Arpaio’s racist legacy of terror and persecution of
the people of Maricopa County,” she said referring to the former sheriff’s immigration enforcement actions.

Mesa Mayor John Giles sent a letter to Carter requesting García De Rayos
be allowed to stay with her family.

“I deeply value the contributions
to our community that have been made by Guadalupe and her family,” he
said in the letter. “People making our community unsafe should be
deported. Mothers should be with their children.”

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton also issued a statement about the deported
Mesa mother.

“What happened last night to Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos is a
travesty. She has been peacefully living and working in the Valley for
more than two decades, and by all accounts was building a life and
contributing to our community. She has now been torn apart from her
family,” he said.

Garcia De Rayos arrived to the U.S when she was 14 years old. She is the
mother of two U.S. citizens.

“We are a humble family just like everybody
else and we are not a threat,” said Aarón Rayos.

“We need to be here for her because as a community we need to support
each other,” said Jaime Valdéz, one of the demonstrators outside the
ICE building trying to stop the deportation. “Today it’s her
but one day it can be me. It can her, him, it can be anybody.”

More by Charlene Santiago

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